The invention relates to a tire inflation gun.
Tire inflation guns are known in the art. They generally comprise a gun structure connected by a pipe to a compressed air receiver and extend into a tube provided with an element for its connection to a tire nozzle. A pressure gauge is connected to the gun structure for checking the tire pressure.
The inflation gun is used by connecting the gun to the tire, the pressure gauge then indicating the tire pressure. If the internal pressure is less than the correct value, the user operates the gun trigger to connect the compressed air receiver to the tire and hence inflate it. If the internal pressure is too high, the user causes air to escape from the tire by again operating the trigger, but moving it only a short distance.
However, this known inflation gun has the drawback that, during inflation, the pressure gauge is connected to the compressed air receiver, with consequent damage to the sensor element and to the pointer of the pressure gauge graduated scale, which has an end-of-scale value which is distinctly less than the pressure in the receiver.
An object of the invention is to eliminate this drawback by providing an inflation gun which, during tire inflation, closes the connection between the pressure gauge and the compressed air receiver.
It is another object of the invention to provide a tire inflation gun allowing a tire to be inflated or deflated and measure the pressure within the tire. It is another object of the invention to provide a valve that may be used in a tire inflation device that allows the tire to be deflated while measuring the pressure in the tire but protects the pressure gauge from exposure to high pressure during tire inflation.